Focus On Exceptional Results Rather Than "best Practices"
Frequently when I've been discussing a potential engagement with a prospective client they will bring the conversation around to "best practices"
. They will ask that an important part of the engagement involve implementing industry "best practices" throughout their organization.
"Best practices" is a term I've struggled with for a while. For just about any retail process or procedure, I can reach for a number of textbooks or white papers that will each have a different approach or emphasis. Further, I can point to a number of independent retailers who take a different approach or emphasis, each quite successfully.
This point came home to me when I came upon a couple of articles written by Susan Cramm that appeared recently in the Harvard Business Review, Why Do We Ignore "Best Practices" and, How Are You Defying "Best Practice"? In the second piece, which reviewed her reader's feedback to the first article, she summarized that feedback; that "best practices" aren't always the "best", aren't always feasible and sometimes are not truly achievable.
I think there's a lot to that. In my work with my retail clients I've found that a process that was "best" for one wasn't necessarily appropriate for another. Every retailer is different. No two retailers are alike in ownership structure, organizational structure, business units, product assortment, and target customer base. Sometimes an independent retailer is also a manufacturer, importer, distributor or wholesaler. Sometimes there's a service arm that's the real driver of the business. Further, these differences are all desirable. They are the very things that differentiate and distinguish every independent retailer. "Best practices" implies a singular best way, but one size rarely fits all.
In the end, my quarrel with "best practices" is that they focus on process rather than results. Results are what count. In the end, a process has to deliver, whether it involves "best practices" or not. I've found that the best outcomes start with the required result, then develop a process that delivers that result, makes sense, is easy to understand and replicate, and includes the appropriates controls and metrics.
If the objective is resolving customer problems, put the focus on that result. If the objective is accurate inventories, put the focus on achieving that result. If the objective is accurate costing, put the focus on that result. If the focus is on reducing shrink, put the focus on achieving that result. Recognize that how you achieve those results is secondary, while the way you achieve those results has to work for your business.
Susan Cramm summarized her readers feedback that rather than focusing on "best practices", it's more effective to focus on "adapting best practices intelligently and innovatively, defining quality processes... to deliver quality products and services at the time and cost required, (and) having experienced people who understand the fundamentals and know how to think critically, strategically, and creatively."
All sound ideas. But let me put it more simply. In my mind, the "best" approach for independent retailers is to put the focus on achieving exceptional results rather than simply following "best practices".
Copyright (c) 2012 Ted Hurlbut
by: Ted Hurlbut
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